Astounding hand-drawn animation

Koji Morimoto is a name I only became familiar with in the anime world in the past couple of years, when I first stumbled on a copy of the high-energy short Noiseman Sound Insect. This was when I thought "Ah ha! There are people out in the anime world that really understand how to use 3D computer graphics as an aid, not as a replacement to 2D hand-drawn art!". This was when I started seeking out more works from Studio 4°C, the animation studio behind that amazing short film.

So when I saw this Anime New Network "Buried Treasure" article on Bobby's In Deep (Official English title: Bobby's Girl), the note about Koji Morimoto's 3-minute sequence at the end of the movie caught my immediate attention. Bobby's Girl was one of Madhouse's early works made in 1985 about a underachieving teen who is obsessed with motorcycles. Because it's long out-of-print, it will be extremely difficult to find a copy (legal or otherwise) of this 44 minute film.

But I searched around and actually found a video of part of the sequence in question. Though this may not look as impressive as our modern-day full-color computer-assisted 3D/2D hybrid animations, keep in mind that this black-and-white pen-and-ink animation was made long before computers were even in sight in Japanese animation:

This was animated entirely by hand!

This is breathtaking by even modern standards, 22 years afterwards! I know my jaw hit the floor on that side profile shot of Bobby on the motorcycle, when it revolves slightly around the bike!